The Kalos region is 1000000% modeled on its Gallic real-world equivalent .
The game's map.
As Kotaku pointed out, there are strong similarities between the physical plants of the two places (even if Kalos is a little more, like, squished).
People casually drop French words all the time.
Merci beaucoup, I guess.
Josh Fjelstad / BuzzFeed
Professor Sycamore.
The swoopy-haired, open-collared, o-ring-belt-sporting professor's favorite activity is to dash around saying the aforementioned French phrases. Also he is hot, which is not exclusive to the French but is very true.
The cafes serve menu items like "chocolat chaud," "limonade," and "café au lait."
Good luck finding a vending machine soda in Luminose City, ya plebe.
